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Was Abraham Lincoln 
An Infidel? 



THE RELIGIOUS CHARACTER OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN AS IT 

APPEARS IN THE LIGHT OF HIS SPOKEN 

AND WRITTEN WORD 



COMPILED AND ARRANGED BY 

CARL THEODOR WETTSTEIN 



tst un 






THE C. M. CLARK PUBLISHING COMPANY 
BOSTON. MASSACHUSETTS 



Copyright 1910 

Thc cm. CIvARk Pubushing Co. 

Boston, Mass , U. S. A. 

All rights rtHervcd 



©CI.A'^616:i5 



A Souvenir 

For the Forty-fifth Anniversary of the 

Death of Abraham Lincoln 

April 14, 1865 



Lives of great men all remind us 
We can make our lives sublime. 
And, departing, leave behind us 
Footprints on the sands of time." 

— Longfellow 



PREFACE 

In offering this book to the pubhc, the writer 
does not claim any personal merits for its con- 
tents. It is simply a collection or compilation 
of the rehgious words of Abraham Lincoln as 
they were reported in the newspapers, magazines 
or biographies of Lincoln before, during and 
after the Civil War. Whenever the writer found 
such words, he clipped them from the papers or 
copied and carefully preserved them in a scrap- 
book. After many years he found that he had 
a very interesting and valuable collection. 

The first words collected were the farewell 
address of Lincoln to the citizens of Springfield, 
111., reported in the papers on February 12, 1861, 
forty-nine years ago. In ordinary times this 
address would only have created a passing inter- 
est, and I would not have considered it worth 
keeping; but at that time the American people 
were kept in such a state of intense excitement 



by rumors of a threatening war, and such a dark 
cloud of coming unknown calamities lay over the 
country, that I felt as if other words of Lincoln 
would follow, and I collected them as soon as 
they were published. 

Some of these utterances of Lincoln are so 
beautiful, so sublime, so full of faith in a Divine 
Ruler that they will forever remain deeply en- 
graved in the hearts of the American people and 
in American history. 

C, T. W. 




WAS ABRAHAM LINCOLN 
AN INFIDEL? 

IT is not the purpose at this time to depict the 
character of Lincoln in all its details. 
Should that be the purpose, no more apt 
words could be found than those which Lincoln 
himself spoke on Feb. 22, 1842, at a celebration 
of Washington's Birthday: "A eulogy on George 
Washington is expected of me. That is impos- 
sible. To give the sun more light or the name of 
Washington more splendor is alike impossible. 
No one should attempt it." 

These words exactly fit Abraham Lincoln. 

As at the death of men of renown, the religious 
or non-religious character of their lives is dwelt 
upon in biographies and eulogies, so, also, much 
has been written since Lincoln's death of his 
position toward religion — much that was true, 
much absolutely untrue. As an example of the 
latter, the following extract from a communica- 
tion to a Chicago morning newspaper,* pub- 
lished many years ago, may be cited: 

"From men like these (Benjamin Frankhn, 

* Chicago Herald. 

11 



12 Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 

Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas 
H. Huxley, John Tyndall and Herbert Spen- 
cer) the spirit of infidelity spreads down to the 
lowest strata of society." 

When a person of intelligence, who has read 
something of Lincoln's character, sees this, he 
must necessarily form the conclusion that the 
writer says something of which he either has no 
knowledge or purposely utters a falsehood. The 
latter is the more probable. Even that apostle 
of infidelity, Robert Ingersoll, was frequently 
quoted as referring to Lincoln as an infidel, 
and Ingersoll must have known that this was 
wrong, because Lincoln's religious words have 
been reported so frequently in the newspapers 
that a man like Ingersoll must have read them. 
We recall the following beautiful words, so 
eloquently illustrating the religious character of 
Lincoln : 

"What appears to me to be the will of God, 
that shall I do." 

Had no other religious declaration been 
brought down to this day than this one, it would 
be sufficient to place Lincoln's religious charac- 
ter in a bright hght. Whoever studies Lincoln's 
hfe will know that all his after life and deeds 
were indicative of an ambition to bring them into 
harmony with this declaration. 

It is a fact that Lincoln was not a member of 
any church, but there is no doubt, had not death 




Lincoln at Thirty-Xine. The Earliest Portrait 
of Abraham Lincoln 



Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 13 

claimed him so suddenly, that he would have 
joined a church. That he had such intentions, is 
confirmed by various persons. During his ad- 
ministration he regularly attended the Presby- 
terian Church of Dr. Gurney, and occasionally 
the church of Dr. Sutherland. Dr. Gurney says : 

"Shortly before his death, Lincoln told me 
that he stood ready soon to affiliate with some 
church by confession of his faith." 

In Springfield Lincoln attended the First 
Presbyterian Church under Dr. James Smith. 

Why Lincoln should have been claimed by the 
Atheists as one of their faith is a mystery to me. 
The only motive for such an assumption can be 
found when, in his early youth, 1834, he wrote 
an essay on Thomas Payne's "Age of Reason," 
and Volney's "Ruins of an Empire," which he 
was to read before a literary society. At first 
he was very indignant when his friend, Sam 
Hill, burned the manuscript; but, later on, 
thanked him for it. John G. Nicolay, his 
private secretary, has this to say on the subject: 

"Yes, there is a story, and it is probably true, 
that, when he was very young and very igno- 
rant, he wrote an essay that might be called 
atheistical. It was after he had been reading a 
couple of atheistic books which made a great im- 
pression upon his mind, and the essay is sup- 
posed to have expressed his views on those books, 
— a sort of review of them, containing both ap- 



14s Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 

proval and disapproval — and one of his friends 
burned it. He was very indignant at the time, 
but was afterwards glad of it." 

But liincoln's own words shall give us a cor- 
rect picture of his inner hfe, so that the reader 
can form his own opinion. 



JUDGE GILLESPIE AND LINCOLN 



Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 17 

A deep impression of Lincoln's inner life, at 
the time between liis nomination and election, has 
been transmitted to posterity by Judge Gilles- 
pie, who, one night at the beginning of January, 
stopped at Lincoln's home in Springfield. It 
was late before Lincoln had completed his busi- 
ness and the two friends sat down by the fire 
for a chat. 

"I attempted," says Judge Gillespie, "to draw 
him into conversation relating to the past, hop- 
ing to divert him from the thoughts which were 
evidently distracting him. 

" 'Yes, yes, I remember,' he would say to my 
references to old scenes and associations, but the 
old-time zest was not only lacking, but in its 
place was a gloom and despondency entirely 
foreign to Lincoln's character. . . . Sud- 
denly he roused himself. 'Gillespie,' said he, 'I 
would willingly take out of my life a period in 
years equal to the two months which intervene 
between now and my inauguration, to take the 
oath of office now.' 

"'Why?' I asked. 

" 'Because every hour adds to the difficul- 
ties I am called upon to meet, and the present 
administration does nothing to check the ten- 
dency toward dissolution. I, who have been 
called to meet this awful responsibility, am 
compelled to remain here, doing nothing to avert 
it or lessen its force when it comes to me.' 



18 Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 

"Our talk then turned upon the possibihty 
of avoiding a war. *It is only possible,' said Mr. 
Lincoln, 'upon the consent of this government to 
the creation of a foreign slave government out 
of the present slave states. I see the duty de- 
volving upon me. I have read, upon my knees, 
the story of Gethsemane, where the Son of God 
prayed in vain that the cup of bitterness might 
pass from Him. I am in the garden of Geth- 
semane now, and my cup of bitterness is full and 
overflowing.' 

"I then told liim that as Christ's prayer was 
not ansv/ered and His crucifixion had redeemed 
the great part of the world from paganism to 
Christianity, so the sacrifice demanded of him 
might be a great beneficence. Little did I then 
think how prophetic were my words to be, or 
what a great sacrifice he was called to make." 
(Ida M. Tarbell, McClure's, December, 1898.) 

These words of Lincoln we can only imder- 
stand if we look back upon the conditions of 
our country at that period. 



f^m^ 



i^^jl^ 




The Cooper Institute Portrait, Taken in Fe1)rnary, i860 



THE OUTLOOK IN 1861 



Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 21 

"It is difficult for anybody," says Noah 
Brooks, "at this distance of time, and when all 
things are at peace throughout the republic, to 
realize how great was the burden placed upon 
Lincoln by his election to the presidency. There 
were two great troubles — the office-seekers and 
the impending war. The first of these, of course, 
was the smaller, but it was none the less a griev- 
ous trial. For, in addition to the strain that it 
brought upon his patience, it interfered very 
seriously with his attempt to think over the 
greater and far more trying questions that must 
soon be settled." 

Ida M. Tarbell said: "Mr. Lincoln was not 
only obliged to sit inactive and watch this steady 
dissolution of the Union, but he was obhged to 
see what was still harder — that the administra- 
tion which he was to succeed was doing nothing 
to check the destructionists. Indeed, all through 
this period, proof accumulated that members of 
Mr. Buchanan's cabinet had been systematically 
working for many months to disarm the North 
and equip the South. The quantity of arms sent 
quietly from northern arsenals (to the South) 
was so great that the citizens of the towns from 
which they went became alarmed. 
Letters threatening him with death, sketches of 
gibbets, stilettos, came in every mail." 

Noah Brooks concludes his article as follows: 

"Lincoln, at Springfield, lingering in his 



22 Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 

home until such time as was necessary for him 
to depart for Washington, beheld all these revo- 
lutionary proceedings with profound anxiety. 
He was powerless to lift a hand against the 
traitors who were seeking the destruction of the 
Federal Union, for, although he had been called 
to be President of the United States, he was as 
yet a private citizen. And while the loyal people 
of the Republic longed and prayed for a strong 
man at the helm of the national government, and 
waited for the fourth of March to come and 
see Abraham Lincoln in the chair of state, he 
remained passive, counselling patience and 
moderation to all with whom he came in contact, 
and framing in his mind the pleading, expostu- 
lating, and generous inaugural address that he 
subsequently delivered. Jeiferson Davis, on the 
other hand, gave voice to the hatred and vindic- 
tiveness of the slavery leaders, when, on liis way 
from his home to be inaugurated in Montgomery, 
he said: 

" 'We will carry the war where it is easy 
to advance, where food for the sword and the 
torch awaits our armies in the densely-populated 
cities.' On the one side were forbearance, mag- 
nanimity, and Christian patience. On the other 
side were hatred, vaporing, and threats of vio- 
lence. . 

"Already, threats of assassination had been 
whispered abroad, and it had been boasted by the 




Li 



ncoln When President-Elcct 



Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 23 

enemies of the Union that Lincoln would never 
reach Washington alive." 

Such were the conditions in our country when 
Lincoln left Springfield for Washington. Can 
it astonish us if his heart was full of apprehen- 
sion and evil forebodings for the future? 

GOD'S WILL SHALL I DO 

Speaking of the slaves to a member of his 
cabinet, he said on one occasion: 

"I have not yet decided as to the proclama- 
tion of the emancipation of the slaves, but the 
subject has my constant consideration. I can 
assure you that, night and day, there is nothing 
that has my deeper thought. What appears to 
me to be God's will, that I shall do." 

SHOULD BE PRINTED IN GOLDEN LETTERS 

Gov. Bramlett of Kentucky, Senator Dickson 
and Editor A. G. Hodges came to Lincoln as 
bearers of a protest from the Southern states 
against the emancipation of the slaves. Lincoln's 
answer has been preserved by Hodges. Toward 
the end the President says: 

"I add a word which was not in the verbal con- 
versation. In telling this tale I attempt no com- 
pliment to my own sagacity. I claim not to 
have controlled events, but confess plainly that 



24 Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 

events have controlled me. Now, at the end 
of three years' struggle, the nation's condition is 
not what either party, or any man, devised or 
expected. God alone can claim it. Whither it 
is tending seems plain. If God now wills the 
removal of a great wrong, and wills also that 
we of the North, as well as you of the South, 
shall pay fairly for our complicity in that wrong, 
impartial history will find therein new cause to 
attest and revere the justice and goodness of 
Godr (The Century, July, 1891.) 

MEDITATION ON DIVINE WILL, 
SEPTEMBER 7, 1862 

The will of God prevails. In great contests 
each party claims to act in accordance \^ith the 
will of God. Both may be, and one must be, 
wrong. God cannot be for and against the same 
thing at the same time. In the present Civil 
War it is quite possible that God's purpose is 
something different from the purpose of either 
party; and yet the human instrumentalities, 
working just as they do, are of the best adapta- 
tion to effect His purpose. I am almost ready to 
say that this is probably true; that God wills 
this contest, and wills that it shall not end yet. 
By His mere great power on the minds of the 
now contestants. He could have either saved or 
destroyed the Union without a human contest. 
Yet the contest began. And, having begun, he 




2 






Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 25 

could give the final victory to either side any day. 
Yet the contest proceeds. (Nicolay and Hay.) 

IN HIS FAREWELL ADDRESS AT SPRING- 
FIELD, FEBRUARY ii, 1861 

A duty devolves upon me which is greater, 
perhaps, than that which has devolved upon any 
other man since the days of Washington. He 
never would have succeeded except for the aid of 
Divine Providence, upon which he at all times 
relied. I feel that I cannot succeed without the 
same Divine aid which sustained him, and on the 
same Almighty Being I place my reliance for 
support, and I hope you, my friends, will pray 
that I may receive that Divine assistance without 
which I cannot succeed, but with which success 
is certain. Again, I bid you all an affectionate 
farewell. 

CAPTAIN MIX 

Captain Mix of Lincoln's body-guard was fre- 
quently invited to breakfast with the family at 
the "Home" residence. "Many times," said he, 
"have I listened to our most eloquent preachers, 
but never with the same feeling of awe and rev- 
erence as when our Christian President, his arm 
around his son, with his deep, earnest tone, each 
morning, read a chapter from the Bible." (Car- 
penter, 261.) 



26 Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 

LET THIS CUP PASS 
Lincoln fought bitter fights with himself be- 
fore he surrendered to the pressure from the aboli- 
tionists to emancipate the slaves by force of arms. 
He considered this act as that of a dictator. He 
feared it would be an abortive effort and one 
damaging to the loyal citizens of the South. He 
told a friend on one occasion that he had prayed 
to the Almighty to dehver him from the necessity 
of such a step and — using the identical words of 
Christ— to let the cup pass if it was at all pos- 
sible. On the morning following the pubHca- 
tion of the proclamation, he declared: "I hope 
to God that I have not committed an error." 



LINCOLN AND NEWTON BATEMAN 



Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 29 

Mr. Newton Bateman, Superintendent of 
Public Instruction for the State of Illinois, oc- 
cupied a room adjoining and opening into the 
Executive Chamber. Frequently this door was 
open during Mr. Lincoln's receptions; and 
throughout the seven months or more of his 
occupation Mr. Bateman saw him nearly every 
day. Often when Mr. Lincoln was tired he 
closed his door against all intrusion, and called 
Mr. Bateman into his room for a quiet talk. On 
one of these occasions Mr. Lincoln took up a 
book containing a careful canvass of the city 
of Springfield, in which he lived, showing the 
candidate for whom each citizen had declared 
it his intention to vote in the approaching elec- 
tion. Mr. Lincoln's friends had, doubtless at 
his own request, placed the result of the canvass 
in his hands. This was toward the close of Oc- 
tober, and only a few days before the election. 
Calling Mr. Bateman to a seat at his side, hav- 
ing previously locked all the doors, he said: 

"Let us look over this book. I wish particu- 
larly to see how the ministers of Springfield are 
going to vote." 

The leaves were turned, one by one, and \ 
as the names were examined Mr. Lincoln fre- 
quently asked if this one and that were not a 
minister, or an elder, or the member of such or 
such a church, and sadly expressed his surprise 
on receiving an affirmative answer. In that 



30 Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 

manner they went through the book, and then he 
closed it and sat silently and for some minutes 
regarded a memorandum in pencil which lay 
before him. At length he turned to JMr. Bate- 
man, with a face full of sadness, and said: 

"Here are twenty-three ministers, of different 
denominations, and all of them are against me but 
three, and here are a great many prominent mem- 
bers of the churches, a very large majority of 
whom are against me. Mr. Bateman, I am not a 
Christian — God knows I would be one — but I 
have carefully read the Bible, and I do not so un- 
derstand this book;" and he drew from his bosom 
a pocket New Testament. "These men well 
know," he continued, "that I am for freedom in 
the territories, freedom everywhere as far as the 
Constitution and laws will permit, and that my 
opponents are for slavery. They know this, and 
yet, with this book in their hands, in the light 
of which human bondage cannot live a moment, 
they are going to vote against me. I do not 
understand it at all." 

Here Mr. Lincoln paused — paused for long 
minutes, his features surcharged with emotion. 
Then he rose and walked up and down the room 
in the effort to retain or regain his self-posses- 
sion. Stopping at last, he said, with a trembling 
voice and his cheeks wet with tears: 

"I know there is a God, and that He hates in- 
justice and slavery. I see the storm coming, and 



Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 31 

I know that His hand is in it. If He has a place 
and work for me — and I think He has — I believe 
I am ready. I am nothing, but truth is every- 
thing. I know I am right because I know that 
liberty is right, for Christ teaches it, and Christ 
is God. I have told them that a house divided 
against itself cannot stand, and Christ and reason 
say the same; and they will find it so. Douglas 
doesn't care whether slavery is voted up or down, 
but God cares, and humanity cares, and I care; 
and with God's help I shall not fail. I may not 
see the end; but it will come, and I shall be vin- 
dicated; and these men will find that they have 
not read their Bibles aright." 

Much of this was uttered as if he were speak- 
ing to himself, and with a sad and earnest sol- 
emnity of manner impossible to be described. 
After a pause, he resumed : 

" Doesn't it appear strange that men can 
ignore the moral aspects of this contest? A 
revelation could not make it plainer to me that 
slavery or the government must be destroyed. 
The future would be something awful, as I 
look at it, but for this rock on which I stand" 
(alluding to the Testament which he still held 
in his hand), "especially with the knowledge of 
how these ministers are going to vote. It seems 
as if God had borne with this thing (slavery) 
until the very teachers of religion have come to 
defend it from the Bible, and to claim for it a 



32 Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 

divine character and sanction; and now the cup 
of iniquity is full, and the vials of wrath will be 
poured out." 

His last reference was to certain prominent 
clergymen in the South, Drs. Ross and Palmer 
among the number; and he went on to comment 
on the atrociousness and essential blasphemy of 
their attempts to defend American slavery from 
the Bible. After this the conversation was con- 
tinued for a long time. Everything he said was 
of a peculiarly deep, tender and religious tone, 
and all was tinged with a touching melancholy. 
He repeatedly referred to his conviction that the 
day of wrath was at hand, and that he was to be 
an actor in the terrible struggle which would 
issue in the overthrow of slavery, though he 
might not live to see the end. He repeated many 
passages of the Bible, and seemed specially im- 
pressed with the solemn grandeur of portions of 
Revelations, describing the wrath of Almighty 
God. In the course of the conversation he dwelt 
much upon the necessity of faith in the Chris- 
tian's God as an element of successful states- 
manship, especially in times like those which 
were upon liim, and said that it gave that calm- 
ness and tranquillity of mind, that assurance of 
ultimate success, which made a man firm and 
immovable amid the wildest excitements. After 
further reference to a belief in Divine Provi- 
dence, and the fact of God in history, the conver- 




.In 



Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 33 

sation turned upon prayer. He freely stated his 
belief in the duty, privilege and efficacy of 
prayer, and intimated, in unmistakable terms, 
that he had sought in that way the Divine guid- 
ance and favor. 

The effect of this conversation upon the mind 
of Mr. Bateman, a Christian gentleman whom 
Mr. Lincoln profoundly respected, was to con- 
vince him that Mr. Lincoln had, in his quiet 
way, found a path to the Christian standpoint — 
that he had found God, and rested on the eternal 
truth of God. As the two men were about to 
separate, Mr. Bateman remarked: "I have not 
supposed that you were accustomed to think so 
much upon this class of subjects. Certainly 
your friends generally are ignorant of the sen- 
timents you have expressed to me." He replied 
quickly: "I know they are. I am obliged to 
appear indifferent to them; but I think more 
on these subjects than upon all others, and I 
have done so for years, and I am willing that you 
should know it." 

This remarkable conversation furnishes a 
golden link in the chain of Mr. Lincoln's history. 
It flashes a strong light upon the path he had 
already trod, and illuminates every page of his 
subsequent record. Men have wondered at his 
abounding charity, his love of mankind, his equa- 
nimity under the most distressing circumstances, 
his patience under insult and misrepresentation, 



34 Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 

his delicate consideration of the feehngs of the 
humble, his apparent incapacity of resentment, 
his love of justice, his transparent simplicity, his 
truthfulness, his good will toward his enemies, 
his beautiful and unshaken faith in the triumph 
of the right. There was undoubtedly something 
in his natural constitution that favored the de- 
velopment of these qualities; but those best ac- 
quainted with human nature will hardly attribute 
the combination of excellencies which were ex- 
hibited in his character and life to the unaided 
forces of his constitution. The man who carried 
what he called "this rock" in his bosom, who 
prayed, who thought more on religious subjects 
than of all others, who had an undying faith in 
the providence of God, drew his life from the 
highest fountains. 

It was one of the peculiarities of Mr. Lin- 
coln to hide these rehgious experiences from the 
eyes of the world. In the same State House 
where this conversation occurred, there were men 
who imagined — who really believed — who freely 
said — that Mr. I^incoln had probably revealed 
himself with less restraint to them than to others : 
— men who thought they knew him as they knew 
their bosom companions — who had never in their 
whole lives heard from his lips one word of all 
these religious convictions and experiences. 
They did not regard him as a religious man. 
They had never seen anything but the active 



Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 35 

lawyer, the keen politician, the jovial, fun-loving 
companion, in Mr. Lincoln. All this department 
of lus life he had kept carefully hidden from 
them. Why he should say that he was obliged 
to appear differently to others does not appear; 
but the fact is a matter of history that he never 
exposed his own religious life to those who had 
no sympathy with it. It is doubtful whether the 
clergymen of Springfield knew anything of 
these experiences. Very few of them were in 
political sympathy with him; and it is evident 
that he could open his heart to no one except 
under the most favorable circumstances. The 
well-spring from which gushed up so grand and 
guod a life was kept carefully covered from the 
eyes of the world. Its possessor looked into it 
often, but the careless or curious crowd were 
never favored with the vision. There was much 
in his conduct that was simply a cover to these 
thoughts — an attempt to conceal them. It is 
more than probable that, on separating from Mr. 
Bateman on this occasion, he met some old friend, 
and, leaping at a single bound from his tearful 
melancholy and his sublime religious passion, he 
told him some story, or indulged in some jest, 
that filled his own heart with mirthfulness, and 
awoke convulsions of laughter in him who heard 
it. (Holland, 236.) 

Mr. Carpenter, referring to this conversation 
with Bateman, said: "I myself had an impression 



36 Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 

as though I stood before one of the ancient 
prophets when Lincoln spoke of the situation and 
the future of the United States." 




From tlic Collection of Robert Coster 



THE DEATH OF WILLIE LINCOLN 



Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 39 

Lincoln's religious character apparently was 
clarified and strengthened, not only by the death 
of his son, Willie, but particularly by reason of 
the grave responsibilities resting upon his shoul- 
ders and the portentous occurrences that played 
before his eyes and took place under his own 
direction. Lincoln's deep, earnest, religious 
awakening apparently, however, dates from the 
death of his son, WilHam Wallace, who died, 
twelve years of age, February 20, 1862. 

Mr. Carpenter was busy in the White House 
painting the historical picture, "The Emancipa- 
tion Proclamation." During this time he became 
most intimately acquainted with Lincoln. In 
his book, "The Inner Life of Abraham Lincoln." 
he says: 

"William Wallace Lincoln, I never knew. He 
died Thursday, February 20th, 1862, nearly two 
years before my intercourse with the President 
commenced. He had just entered upon his 
twelfth year, and has been described to me as of 
an unusually serious and thoughtful disposition. 
His death was the most crushing affliction Mr. 
Lincoln had ever been called upon to pass 
through. 

"After the funeral, the President resumed his 
official duties, but mechanically, and with a ter- 
rible weight at his heart. The following Thurs- 
day he gave way to his feelings, and shut himself 
from all societv. The second Thursdav it was 



40 Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 

the same; he would see no one, and seemed a 
prey to the deepest melancholy. About this time 
the Rev. Francis Vinton, of Trinity Church, 
New York, had occasion to spend a few days in 
Washington. As an acquaintance of Mrs. Lin- 
coln and her sister, Mrs. Edwards, of Springfield, 
he was requested bj^ them to come up and see 
the President. The setting apart of Thursday 
for the indulgence of liis grief had gone on for 
several weeks, and Mrs. Lincoln began to be 
seriously alarmed for the health of her husband, 
of which Dr. Vinton was apprised. Mr. Lincoln 
received him in the parlor, and an opportunity 
was soon embraced by the clergyman to chide him 
for showing so rebellious a disposition to the de- 
crees of Providence. He told him plainly that 
the indulgence of such feelings, though natural, 
was sinful. It was unworthy one who believed 
in the Christian religion. He had duties to the 
living, greater than those of any other man, as 
the chosen father and leader of the people, and 
he was unfitting himself for his responsibihties by 
thus giving way to his grief. To mourn the 
departed as lost is a relic of heathenism — not 
Christianity. 

" * Your son,' said Dr. Vinton, 'is alive, in Para- 
dise. Do you remember that passage in the Gos- 
pels: "God is not the God of the dead but of the 
living, for all live unto Him"?' 

"The President had listened as one in a stupor 



Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 41 

until his ear caught the words, 'Your son is 
ahve.' Starting from the sofa, he exclaimed, 
'Alive! alive! Surely you mock me.' 

" 'No, sir; believe me,' replied Dr. Vinton; 'it 
is a most comforting doctrine of the church, 
founded upon the words of Christ Himself.' 

"Mr. Lincoln looked at him a moment, and 
then, stepping forward, he threw his arm around 
the clergyman's neck, and laying his head upon 
his breast, sobbed aloud. 'Alive? alive?' he re- 
peated. 

" 'My dear sir,' said Dr. Vinton, greatly 
moved, as he twined his own arm around the 
weeping father, 'believe this, for it is God's most 
precious truth. "Seek not your son among the 
dead; he is not there; he lives to-day in Paradise!" 
Think of the full import of the words I have 
quoted. The Sadducees, when they questioned 
Jesus, had no other conception than that Abra- 
ham, Isaac, and Jacob were dead and buried. 
Mark the reply: Now that the dead are raised, 
even Moses showed at the bush when he called the 
Lord the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and 
the God of Jacob. For He is not the God of the 
dead, but of the living, for all live unto Him. Did 
not the aged patriarch mourn his sons as dead? — 
"Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take 
Benjamin also." But Joseph and Simeon were 
both living, though he believed it not. Indeed, 
Joseph being taken from him, was the eventual 



42 Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 

means of the preservation of the whole family. 
And so God has called your son into His upper 
kingdom — a kingdom and an existence as real, 
more real, than your own. It may be that he, 
too, like Joseph, has gone, in God's good provi- 
dence, to be the salvation of his father's house- 
hold. It is a part of the Lord's plan for the 
ultimate happiness of you and yours. Doubt it 
not. I have a sermon,' continued Dr. Vinton, 
*upon this subject which I think might interest 
you.' 

"Mr. Lincoln begged him to send it at an 
early day — thanking him repeatedly for his cheer- 
ing and hopeful words. The sermon was sent, 
and read over and over by the President, who 
caused a copy to be made for his own private 
use before it was returned. Through a member 
of the family, I have been informed that Mr. 
Lincoln's views in relation to spiritual things 
seemed changed from that hour. Certain it is, 
that thenceforth he ceased the observance of the 
day of the week upon which his son died, and 
gradually resumed his accustomed cheerfulness." 
On this subject Holland says, p. 434: 
"In February, 1862, Mr. Lincoln was visited 
by severe affliction in the death of his beautiful 
son, Willie, and the extreme sickness of Thomas, 
familiarly called 'Tad.' This was a new bur- 
den; and the visitation which, in his firm faith 
in Providence, he regarded as providential, was 




Lincoln and Tad 



Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 43 

also inexplicable. Why should he, with so many 
burdens upon him, and with such necessity for 
solace in his home and his affections, be brought 
into so tender a trial? It was to him a trial of 
faith, indeed. A Christian lady of Massachu- 
setts, who was officiating as nurse in one of the 
hospitals, came in to attend the sick children. 
She reports that Mr. Lincoln watched with her 
about the bedside of the sick ones, and that he 
often walked the room, saying sadly: 

" 'This is the hardest trial of my hfe; why is 
it? Why is it?' 

"In the course of conversations with her, he 
questioned her concerning her situation. She 
told him she was a widow, and that her husband 
and two children were in Heaven ; and added that 
she saw the hand of God in it all, and that she had 
never loved Him so much before as she had since 
her affliction. 

" 'How is that brought about?' inquired Mr. 
Lincoln. 

" 'Simply by trusting in God, and feehng that 
He does all things well,' she replied. 

" 'Did you submit fully under the first loss?' 
he asked. 

" 'No,' she answered, 'not wholly; but, as blow 
came upon blow, and all were taken, I could and 
did submit, and was very happy.' 

"He responded: 'I am glad to hear you say 
that. Your experience will help me to bear my 
afflictions.' 



44 Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 

"On being assured that many Christians were 
praying for him on the morning of the funeral, 
he wiped away the tears that sprang in his eyes, 
and said: 'I am glad to hear that. I want them 
to pray for me. I need their prayers.' As he 
was going out to the burial, the good lady ex- 
pressed her sympathy with him. He thanked 
her gently, and said: 'I will try to go to God with 
my sorrows.' A few days afterwards, she asked 
him if he could trust God. He replied: 'I think 
I can, and I will try. I wish I had that child- 
like faith you speak of, and I trust He will give 
it to me.' And then he spoke of his mother, 
whom so many years before he had committed to 
the dust among the wilds of Indiana. In this 
hour of his great trial, the memory of her who 
had held him upon her bosom, and soothed his 
childish griefs, came back to him with tenderest 
recollections. 

" 'I remember her prayers,' said he, 'and they 
have always followed me. They have clung to me 
all my life.' 

"This lady was with the President on sub- 
sequent occasions. After the second defeat at 
Bull Run, he appeared very much distressed 
about the number of killed and wounded, and 
said: 

" 'I have done the best I could. I have asked 
God to guide me, and now I must leave the event 
with Him.' On another occasion, having been 



Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 45 

made acquainted with the fact that a great battle 
was in progress, at a distant but important point, 
he came into the room, where the lady was en- 
gaged in nursing a member of the family, looking 
worn and haggard, and saying that he was so 
anxious that he could eat nothing. The possi- 
bility of defeat depressed him greatly; but the 
lady told him he must trust, and he could at least 
pray. 

" 'Yes,' said he, and taking up a Bible, he 
started for his room. Could all the people of the 
nation have overheard the earnest petition that 
went up from that inner chamber, as it reached 
the ears of the nurse, they would have fallen 
upon their knees with tearful and reverential 
sympathy. At one o'clock in the afternoon, a 
telegram reached him announcing a Union vic- 
tory; and then he came directly to the room, his 
face beaming with joy, saying: 

" 'Good news! Good news! The victory is 
ours, and God is good.' 

" 'Nothing like prayer,' suggested the pious 
lady, who traced a direct connection between the 
event and the prayer which preceded it. 

" 'Yes there is,' he replied, — 'praise: — prayer 
and praise.' 

"The good lady who communicates these in- 
cidents closes them with the words: 'I do believe 
he was a true Christian, though he had very little 
confidence in himself.' " 



LINCOLN AND GENERAL SICKLES 



Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 49 

James F. Rusling relates in the New York 
Tribune the following impressive utterance, 
which was made in his hearing during Mr. Lin- 
coln's visit to General Sickles, who had been 
wounded at the battle of Gettysburg a day or 
two before. It was Sunday morning, July 5, 
1863. Mr. Lincoln greeted Sickles right cor- 
dially and tenderly, though cheerfully, and it was 
easy to see that they held each other in high 
esteem. Greetings over, Mr. Lincoln dropped 
into a chair and, crossing his prodigious legs, soon 
fell to questioning Sickles as to all the phases of 
the combat at Gettysburg. When Mr. Lincoln's 
inquiries ended. General Sickles resumed the con- 
versation substantially as follows: 

"Well, Mr. President, I beg pardon, but what 
do you think about Gettysburg? What was your 
opinion of things while we were campaigning and 
fighting up there in Pennsylvania?" 

"Oh," replied Mr. Lincoln, "I didn't think 
much about it. I was not much concerned about 
you!" 

"You were not?" rejoined Mr. Sickles, amazed. 
"Why, we heard that you Washington folks 
were a good deal excited, and you certainly had 
good cause to be, for it was 'nip and tuck' with 
us up there a good deal of the time!" 

"Yes, I know that, and I suppose some of us 
were a little 'rattled.' Indeed, some of the 
Cabinet talked of Washington's being captured, 



50 Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 

and ordered a gunboat or two here, and even 
went so far as to send some Government archives 
aboard, and wanted me to go, too, but I refused. 
Stanton and Welles, I believe, were both 'stam- 
peded' somewhat, and Seward, I reckon, too. But 
I said, 'No, gentlemen, we are all right, and are 
going to win at Gettysburg;' and we did, right 
handsomely. No, General Sickles, I had no 
fears of Gettysburg." 

"Why not, Mr. President? How was that? 
Pretty much everybody down here, we heard, 
was more or less panicky." 

"Yes, I expect so, and a good many more than 
will own up now. But actually. General Sickles, 
I had no fears of Gettysburg, and if you really 
want to know I will tell you why. Of course, 
I don't want you and Colonel Busling to say 
anything about this — at least, not now. People 
might laugh if it got out, you know. But the 
fact is, in the stress and pitch of the campaign 
there, I went to my room, and got down on my 
knees and prayed Almighty God for victory at 
Gettysburg. I told Him that this was His 
country, and the war was His war, but that we 
really couldn't stand another Fredericksburg or 
Chancellorsville. And then and there I made a 
solemn vow with my Maker that if He would 
stand by you boys at Gettysburg, I would stand 
by Him. And He did; and I will! And, after 
this, I don't know how it was, and it is not for me 



Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 51 

to explain, but somehow or other a sweet comfort 
crept into my soul that God Almighty had taken 
the whole thing into His own hands, and we were 
bound to win at Gettysburg! No, General 
Sickles, I had no fears of Gettysburg; and that 
is the reason why!" 

Mr. Lincoln said all this with great solem- 
nity and impressiveness, almost as Moses might 
have spoken when he first came down from Sinai ; 
and when he had concluded, there was a pause in 
the talk that nobody seemed disposed to break. 
All were busy with their thoughts, and the Presi- 
dent especially appeared to be communing with 
the Infinite One again. The first to speak was 
General Sickles, who presently resumed as fol- 
lows: 

"Well, Mr. President, what are you thinking 
about Vicksburg, nowadays?" 

"Oh," answered Mr. Lincoln, very gravely. 
"I don't quite know. Grant is still pegging away 
down there, and making some headway, I believe. 
As we used to say out in Illinois, I think 'he will 
make a spoon or spoil a horn' before he gets 
through." 

"So, then, you have no fears about Vicksburg, 
either,! Mr. President?" asked General Sickles. 

"Well, no; I can't say that I have," replied Mr. 
Lincoln, very soberly. "The fact is — but don't 
say anything about this either just now — I have 



52 Was Abrahajn Lincoln an Infidel? 

been praying to Almighty God for Vicksburg, 
also." Of course Mr. Lincoln did not then know 
that Vicksburg had already fallen on July 4th. 



THE LADY OF THE CHRISTIAN 
COMMISSION 



Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 55 

The Rev. Mr. Willets, of Brooklyn, gave 
Carpenter an account of a conversation with Mr. 
Lincoln on the part of a lady of his acquaint- 
ance, connected with the "Christian Commis- 
sion," who in the prosecution of her duties had 
several interviews with him. The President, it 
seemed, had been much impressed with the devo- 
tion and earnestness of purpose manifested by 
the lady, and on one occasion, after she had dis- 
charged the object of her visit, he said to her: 

"Mrs. , I have formed a high opinion of 

your Christian character, and now, as we are 
alone, I have a mind to ask you to give me, in 
brief, your idea of what constitutes a true re- 
ligious experience." 

The lady replied at some length, stating 
that, in her judgment, it consisted of a con- 
viction of one's own sinfulness and weakness, 
and personal need of a Savior for strength 
and support; that views of mere doctrine 
might and would differ, but when one was 
really brought to feel his need of Divine help, 
and to seek the aid of the Holy Spirit for 
strength and guidance, it was satisfactory evi- 
dence of his having been born again. This was 
the substance of her reply. When she had con- 
cluded, Mr. Lincoln was very thoughtful for a 
few moments. At length he said, very earnestly: 

"If what you have told me is really a correct 
view of this great subject, I think I can say with 



56 Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 

sincerity, that I hope I am a Christian. I had 
lived," he continued, "until my boy, Willie, died, 
without realizing fully these things. That blow 
overwhelmed me. It showed me my weakness 
as I had never felt it before, and if I can take 
what you have stated as a test, I think I can 
safely say that I know something of the change 
of which you speak ; and I will further add, that 
it has been my intention for some time, at a 
suitable opportunity, to make a public confession 
of my faith." 

This latter remark means, as is well known, the 
joining of a church. 




Lincoln in i860 



LINCOLN AND THE OLD 
QUAKERESS 



Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 59 

At a dinner party in Washington, composed 
mainly of opponents of the war and the adminis- 
tration, Mr. Lincoln's course and policy were, as 
usual with this class, the subjects of vehement 
denunciation. This had gone on for some time, 
when one of the company, who had taken no 
part in the discussion, asked the privilege of 
saying a few words. 

"Gentlemen," said he, "you may talk as you 
please about Mr. Lincoln's capacity; I don't be- 
lieve him to be the ablest statesman in America, 
by any means, and I voted against him on both 
occasions of his candidacy. But I happened to 
see, or, rather, to hear something, the other day, 
that convinced me that, however deficient he may 
be in the head, he is all right in the heart. I 
was up at the White House, having called to 
see the President on business. I was shown into 
the office of his private secretary, and told that 
Mr. Lincoln was busy just then, but would be 
disengaged in a short time. While waiting, I 
heard a very earnest prayer being uttered in a 
loud, female voice in the adjoining room. I in- 
quired what it meant, and was told that an old 
Quaker lady, a friend of the President's, had 
called that afternoon and taken tea at the White 
House, and that she was then praying with Mr. 
Lincoln. After the lapse of a few minutes the 
prayer ceased, and the President, accompanied 
by a Quakeress not less than eighty years old, 



60 Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 

entered the room where I was sitting. I made 
up my mind then, gentlemen, that Mr. Lincoln 
was not a bad man; and I don't think it will be 
easy to efface the impression that the scene I 
witnessed and the voice I heard made on my 
mind." 

COLONEL LOOMIS 

An illustration of Mr. Lincoln's interest in the 
efforts of religious men is found in his treatment 
of a case brought before him by the Rev. Mr. 
Duryea. Colonel Loomis, commandant at Fort 
Columbus, on Governor's Island, was to be re- 
tired because he had passed the legal limit of 
age for active service. His religious influence 
was so powerful that the Chaplain of the post 
appealed to Mr. Duryea to use his influence for 
the good officer's retention in the service. Ac- 
cordingly, appeal was made to the President for 
that object, purely on religious grounds. 

"What does Mr. Duryea know of military 
matters?" inquired Mr. Lincoln, with a smile, of 
the bearer of the petition. 

"Nothing," replied the gentleman; "and he 
makes no request on military considerations. 
The record of Colonel Loomis for fifty years, 
in the War Department, will furnish these. 
He asks simply to retain the influence of a man 
whose Christian character is pure and consistent, 
who sustains religious exercises at the fort, leads 



Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 61 

a weekly prayer-meeting, and teaches a Bible 
class in the Sabbath School." 

Mr. Lincoln replied: "That is his highest pos- 
sible recommendation. Take this petition to the 
Secretary of War, with my approval." The 
result was the retention of Colonel Loomis at his 
post, until his services were needed in important 
court-martial business. 



LINCOLN AND G. H. STUART 

Only a few months before Mr. Lincoln died, he 
was waited upon at the White House by about 

two hundred members of the — Commission, 

who had been holding their annual meeting. The 
chairman of the commission, George H. Stuart, 
addressed a few words to Mr. Lincoln, speaking 
of the debt which the country owed him. 

"My friends," said Mr. Lincoln in reply, "you 
owe me no gratitude for what I have done; and 
I — " and here he hesitated, and the long arm 
came through the air awkwardly, as if he might be 
misunderstood in what he was going to say — "and 
I, I may say, owe you no gratitude for what 
you have done; just as, in a sense, we owe no 
gratitude to the men who have fought our 
battles for us. I trust that this has been 
for us a work of duty:" and at the mention of 
that word, the homely, sad face was irradiated 
with the light of a divine emotion. 



62 Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 

Looking around for encouragement into the 
faces of the eager group, he then proceeded in the 
simplest words to say that all gratitude was due to 
the Great Giver of all good. At the close of his 
remarks, Mr. Stuart, who cared as little for pre- 
cedent as Mr. Lincoln himself, asked him if he 
had any objection, then and there, to a word of 
prayer. Quietly, but very cordially, as if he 
were grateful for the suggestion, he assented; and 
Bishop Janes offered in the East Room a brief 
and fervent petition. It was a memorable scene, 
which must always be reverted to with interest 
by every Christian patriot. 

BEFORE LINCOLN'S INAUGURATION 

Here are a few of Lincoln's words which date 
before his inauguration. As far back as twenty- 
one years before his administration, Lincoln was 
a bitter foe of slavery, though he recognized the 
constitutional right of the slave-holders. At that 
time he said : 

"If at any time I felt my soul hfted up into 
a wider horizon to sentiments not entirely un- 
worthy its Almighty Maker, it is when surveying 
my country's situation, abandoned by all the 
world, I, standing alone, fearless, have thrown 
down the gauntlet to the victorious oppressors." 

In a letter dated at Springfield January 12, 




Lincoln in llis Circuit Riding Days 



Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 63 

1851, during a severe illness of his father, he 
writes : 

"I earnestly hope that father will recover, but, 
above all things, tell him to confide in our benevo- 
lent and kind Creator, who will not forsake him 
in any tribulation. He will not forsake the dying 
who put their trust in Him. Tell him that if it 
is decreed that he shall leave us, he will have a 
glorious reunion with the loved ones gone be- 
fore, and where we others, left behind, hope soon 
to be reunited with him." 



TRUE RELIGION IN POLITICS 

In the Legislature, where discreditable means 
were employed to pass a bill; "You may burn 
my body to ashes and scatter them to the four 
winds of Heaven; you may drag my soul down 
to the regions of darkness and despair, to be 
tormented forever; but you will not get me to 
supijort a measure which I believe to be wrong," 

"Nearly eighty years ago we declared that all 
men are created equal," he said in 1854, "but 
now we declare that for certain men it is a divine 
right of self-government to make slaves of other 
men. These principles cannot exist together. 
They oppose each other like God and Mammon." 

In the debate with Douglas at Charleston: 
"I do not want to be understood as believing 



64 Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 

that it (the agitation for the abohtion of slavery) 
will be ended in a day, a year, or in two years. 
I do not believe that the abolition of slavery can 
be brought about peaceably in a hundred years, 
but that it will be accomplished in God's own 
good time in the best way for both races, of that 
I have not the least doubt." 



DRINKS ADAM'S ALE FROM WELL 

Lincoln, as is well known, never drank alco- 
holic liquors, although he was no fanatic on this 
question. When the committee, which notified 
him of his candidacy for the presidency, were 
seated, Lincoln ordered the servant girl to bring 
some refreshments. A jug of water and glasses 
were placed upon the table, Lincoln saying: 

"Gentlemen, let us drink to our mutual good 
health in this most wholesome drink which God 
has given us. It is the only drink which I permit 
in my family and in all conscience let me not de- 
part from this custom on this occasion. It is 
the purest Adam's ale, fresh from the well." 

AT ALBANY, NEW YORK 

In a speech at Albany, N. Y., he said: 
"I still have confidence that the Almighty 
Ruler of the universe, through the instrumen- 
tality of this great and intelligent people, can 



Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 65 

and will bring us through this difficulty as He 
has heretofore brought us through all preceding 
difficulties of the country. Relying upon this, 
and again thanking you, as I forever shall, in 
my heart, for this generous reception you have 
given me, I bid you farewell." 



AT TRENTON, NEW JERSEY 

"I am exceedingly anxious that this Union, 
the Constitution, and the liberties of the people, 
shall be perpetuated in accordance with the origi- 
nal idea for which that struggle was made, and I 
shall be most happy indeed if I shall be an hum- 
ble instrument in the hands of the Almighty, and 
of this. His almost chosen people, for perpetu- 
ating the object of that great struggle." 

TO THE LEGISLATURE OF OHIO, COLUM- 
BUS, FEBRUARY 13, 1861 

"Very great responsibility rests upon me in 
the position to which the votes of the American 
people have called me. I am deeply sensible 
of that weighty responsibility. I cannot but 
know what you all know, that without a name, 
perhaps without a reason why I should have a 
name, there has fallen upon me a task such as 
did not rest even upon the Father of his Country; 
and so feeling, I can turn and look for that sup- 



66 Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 

port without which it will be impossible for me 
to perform that great task. I turn, then, and 
look to the American people, and to that God 
who has never forsaken them." 



IN PHILADELPHIA, FEBRUARY 22, 1861 

''My friends, this is wholly an unprepared 
speech. I did not expect to be called on to say 
a word when I came here. I supposed I was 
merely to do something toward raising a flag. 
I may, therefore, have said something indiscreet.'* 
(Cries of "No, no.") "But I have said nothing 
but what I am wilHng to live by, and, if it be 
the pleasure of Almighty God, to die by." 



TO MRS. BIXBY 

For many days after the result of his second 
election was known, Mr. Lincoln was burdened 
with congratulations; and yet, amid these dis- 
turbances, and the cares of office, which were 
onerous in the extreme, he found time to write the 
following letter: 

"Executive Mansion, Washington, Nov. 21, 1864. 

"Dear Madam: — I have been shown, in the 
files of the War Department, a statement by the 
Adjutant-General of Massachusetts, that you are 




Lincoln in t86o 



Was Abraharri Lincoln an Infidel? 67 

the mother of five sons who have died gloriously 
on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruit- 
less must be any words of mine which should at- 
tempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so 
overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from ten- 
dering to you the consolation that may be found 
in the thanks of the republic they died to save. I 
pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the 
anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only 
the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and 
the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid 
so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom." 
The Hon. James Bryce, English Ambassador 
to Wasliington, said of this letter: "It deals with 
a theme on which hundreds of letters are written 
daily. But I do not know where the nobility of 
self-sacrifice for a great cause, and of the con- 
solation which the thought of a sacrifice so made 
should bring, is set forth with such simple and 
pathetic beauty." 

CHRISTIAN SABBATH 

Requested to preside over a meeting of the 
Christian Commission Feb. 22, 1863, in Wash- 
ington, Lincoln said: 

"That Washington's birthday and the Chris- 
tian Sunday fall this time on the same day, in- 
dicating the highest interests of this life and that 
beyond, is most significant for the proposed meet- 
ing." 



63 Was Abraham Lincohi an Infidel? 

LINCOLN AND DR. SUNDERLAND 
Byron Sunderland, Chaplain of the Senate, 
and others were afraid that Lincoln would not 
issue his emancipation proclamation. On the 
Sunday before January 1, 1863, Dr. Sunderland 
preached on this subject, and F. S. Robbins, a 
friend of Lincoln, requested him to go to Lincoln 
and try to persuade him to issue the proclama- 
tion. In this conversation, Lincoln said: 

*'Were it left to me and you, doctor, there 
would have been no war; yes, there would not 
have been any cause for war. But it was not left 
to us. God permitted men to make slaves of their 
fellowmen. He also permitted this war. He 
has staged a peculiar drama before His eye. We 
on our side appeal to Him for victory, because 
we believe we are right, but those on the other 
side likewise appeal to Him for victory, because 
they believe they are right. What must He think 
of us ? And what will be the result ?" 

"And then," continues Sunderland, "Lincoln 
discussed the situation with us in such clear, con- 
vincing language as to strengthen and convince 
me so that since that hour I have placed fullest 
confidence in him. His words appealed to me 
like those of one of the old Prophets." 

MRS. LINCOLN 
Mrs. Lincoln said: "One day, after breakfast, 
soon after he had finished his first inaugural ad- 




,\ l\art' IMinto.uraph of Mrs. Lincoln 



Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 69 

dress, he ordered the whole family out of the 
room. I was in the adjoining room and saw how 
he knelt down, and then I heard him pray to God 
for strength and wisdom in the fulfillment of his 
duties." 

BISHOP SIMPSON 
"One day, during the darkest hours of the war," 
said Bishop Simpson to Chaplain C. E. McCabe, 
"I went to Lincoln. We had a long talk about 
the situation. When I was ready to go, Lincoln 
locked the door, and said: 'Bishop, I feel the 
need of prayer more than ever before; please, do 
pray for me.' And we knelt down in an earnest 
prayer, and the President responded from the 
bottom of his heart." 

GENERAL O. O. HOWARD 
General O. O. Howard said at the consecration 
of Chickamauga Park: 

"It is said that Lincoln, during the battle of 
Gettysburg, was in a worse state of excitement 
and mental anguish than if he had been present 
personally in the battle, and that this brought 
on a spiritual change in his soul, which, later on, 
became a deep submission and resignation to the 
will of God." 

PRAYER 
During one of the great battles near Washing- 
ton, Lincoln was seen going into his room with 



70 Was Ahraham Lincoln an Infidel? 

his Bible. Then he was heard to pray aloud, so 
sincere, so earnest, so full of emotion, as only a 
true Christian can pray. 

AFTER THE BATTLE OF BULL RUN 

After the second battle of Bull Run, I^incoln 
was deeply depressed because of the heavy losses 
of the Union army. ''I have done as well as I 
could," said he at the time to a woman friend. 
"I prayed to God to direct me the right way and 
now I must leave the consequences to Him alone." 

LINCOLN'S MOTHER 

His mother laid the foundation for Lincoln's 
religious character. After he became President 
he said, speaking of his mother : 

"I recall her prayers that she was wont to offer 
on Sundays with her children after she had read 
to them stories from the Bible. They have fol- 
lowed me everywhere and have remained with 
me all through life." 

THE CHURCH HE WANTS TO JOIN 

"On an occasion I shall never forget," says the 
Hon. H. C. Deming, of Connecticut, "the con- 
versation turned upon religious subjects, and Mr. 
lincoln made this impressive remark: *I have 
never united myself to any church, because I have 
found difficulty in giving my assent, without 



Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 71 

mental reservation, to the long, complicated 
statements of Christian doctrine which cliaracter- 
ize their Articles of Belief and Confessions of 
Faith. When any church will inscribe over its 
altar, as its sole qualification for membership,' he 
continued, 'the Savior's condensed statement of 
the substance of both Law and Gospel, "Thou 
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, 
and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and 
thy neighbor as thyself," that church will I join 
with all my heart and all my soul.' " 

WILL BE A BETTER MAN 
At another time he said, cheerfully: "I am very 
sure that if I do not go away from here a wiser 
man, I shall go away a better man, for having 
learned here what a very poor sort of a man I 
am." 

Afterwards, referring to what he called "a 
change of heart," he said, he did not remember 
any precise time when he passed through any 
special change of purpose, or of heart; but he 
would say, that his own election to office, and 
the crisis immediately following, influentially de- 
termined him in what he called "a process of 
crystallization," then going on in his mind. Ret- 
icent as he was, and shy of discoursing much on 
his own mental exercises, these few utterances 
now have a value with those who knew him, which 
his dying words would scarcely have possessed. 
(Brooks.) 



72 Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 

FIRM BELIEF IN OVER-RULING 
PROVIDENCE 

On another occasion, when a number of the 
members of the commission were holding an in- 
terview with the President, Rev. J. T. Duryea of 
New York referred to the trust that they were 
encouraged to repose in the Providence of God, 
and to the fact that appeal was so constantly 
made to it in the prayers of Christian people that 
even children were taught to pray for the Presi- 
dent in their simple morning and evening peti- 
tions. 

"If it were not for my firm belief in an 
over-ruling Providence,'* responded Mr. Lincoln, 
"it would be difficult for me, in the midst of 
such complications of affairs, to keep my reason 
on its seat. But I am confident that the Almighty 
has His plans, and will work them out; and, 
whether we see it or not, they will be the wisest 
and best for us. I have always taken counsel of 
Him, and referred to Him my plans, and have 
never adopted a course of proceeding without 
being assured, as far as I could be, of His appro- 
bation. To be sure, He has not conformed to my 
desires, or else we should have been out of our 
trouble long ago. On the other hand, His will 
does not seem to agree with the wish of our enemy 
over there" (pointing across the Potomac) . "He 
stands the Judge between us, and we ought to 
be willing to accept His decisions. We have 




A Karo Linculn i'hutograph 



Was Ahraham Lincoln an Infidel? 73 

reason to anticipate that it will be favorable to us, 
for our cause is right." It was during this in- 
terview that the fact was privately communicated 
to a member of the commission, that JNIr. Lincoln 
was in the habit of spending an early hour each 
day in prayer. 

When, in the eventful days after the election of 
1860, the Southern States were rapidly seceding, 
and the fate of the Union seemed so dark and 
ominous, it was a Springfield citizen and neighbor 
of Lincoln, William H. Herndon, who, in answer 
to a New England correspondent anxiously in- 
quiring if, in his opinion, the Western circuit- 
court lawyer who had just been elected to the 
Presidency would be big and brave enough to 
deal with the great and tremendous problems that 
awaited him, said: 

"You need have no fear on that score. You 
and I must keep the people right ; God will keep 
Abraham Lincoln right." 



TO DELEGATIONS 



Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 77 

TO THE BAPTIST MINISTERS, MAY 30, 1864 
"In response to the preamble and resolutions of 
the American Baptist Home Mission Society, 
which you did me the honor to present, I can 
only thank you for thus adding to the effective 
and almost unanimous support which the Chris- 
tian communities are so zealously giving to the 
country and to liberty. Indeed, it is difficult 
to conceive how^ it could be otherwise with any 
one professing Christianity, or even having or- 
dinary perceptions of right and wrong. To read 
in the Bible, as the word of God Himself, that 'In 
the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread,' and 
to preach therefrom that, 'In the sweat of other 
men's faces shalt thou eat bread,' to my mind 
can scarcely be reconciled with honest sincerity. 
When brought to my final reckoning, may I have 
to answer for robbing no man of his goods; yet 
more tolerable even this, than robbing one of 
liimself and all that was his. When, a year or 
two ago, those professedly holy men of the South 
met in the semblance of prayer and devotion, and, 
in the name of Him who said, 'As ye would all 
men should do unto you, do ye even so unto 
them,' appealed to the Christian world to aid 
them in doing to a whole race of men as they 
would have no man do unto themselves, to my 
thinking they contemned and insulted God and 
His church far more than did Satan when he 
tempted the Savior with the kingdoms of the 



78 Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 

earth. The devil's attempt was no more false 
and far less hypocritical. But let me forbear, 
remembering it is also written, 'Judge not lest 
ye be judged.' " 

TO THE COLORED PEOPLE OF BALTIMORE 

To the colored people of Baltimore who pre- 
sented him with a costly Bible on July 4th, 1864: 

"In regard to the great book, I have only to 
say, it is the best gift which God has ever given 
man. 

"All the good from the Sai'ior of the World 
is communicated to us through this book. But 
for that book we could not know right from 
wrong. All those things desirable to man are 
contained in it. I return you my sincere thanks 
for tliis very elegant copy of the great book of 
God which you present." 

TO THE EVANGELICAL LUTHERANS 

"You well know, gentlemen, and the world 
knows, how reluctantly I accepted this issue 
of battle forced upon me on my advent to 
this place by the internal enemies of our country. 
You all know, the world knows, the forces and 
the resources the public agents have brought into 
employment to sustain a government against 
which there has been brought not one complaint 
of real injury committed against society at home 




^Irs. Lincoln as Mistress of the White House 



Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 79 

or abroad. You all may recollect that in taking 
up the sword thus forced into our hands, this 
government appealed to the prayers of the pious 
and the good, and declared that it placed its whole 
dependence upon the favor of God. I now hum- 
bly and reverently, in your presence, reiterate 
the acknowledgment of that dependence, not 
doubting that, if it shall please the Divine Being 
who determines the destinies of nations, this shall 
remain a united people, and that they will, hum- 
bly seeking the Divine guidance, make their pro- 
longed national existence a source of new bene- 
fits to themselves and their successors, and to all 
classes and conditions of mankind." 

TO A DELEGATION OF METHODISTS, 
MAY 14, 1864 

"Nobly sustained as the government has been 
by all the churches, I would utter nothing which 
might in the least appear invidious against any. 
Yet without this it may fairly be said that the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, not less devoted 
than the best, is by its greater numbers the most 
important of all. It is no fault in others that the 
Methodist Church sends more soldiers to the field, 
more nurses to the hospital, and more prayers to 
Heaven than any. God bless the Methodist 
Church; bless all the churches and blessed be 
God, who, in this our great trial, giveth us the 
churches." 



80 Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 

TO THE PRESBYTERIANS, MAY 30, 1863 
"As a pilot I have trsed my best exertions to 
keep afloat our Sliip of State, and shall be glad to 
resign my trust 'at the appointed time to another 
pilot more skilful and successful than I may 
prove. In every case and at all hazards the gov- 
ernment must be perpetuated, "^llelying, as I do, 
upon the Almighty Power, and encouraged, as 
I am, by these resolutions which you have just 
read, with the support which I receive from Chris- 
tian men, I shall not hesitatf %p use all the means 
at my control to secure the termination of this 
rebellion, and will hope for success." 

TO ARCHBISHOP HUGHES, OCTOBER 21, 1861 
"I find no law authorizing the appointment of 
chaplains for our hospitals; and yet the services 
of chaplains are more needed, perhaps, in the 
hospitals than with the healthy soldiers in the 
field. With this view, I have given a sort of quasi- 
appointment (a copy of which I enclose) to each 
of three Protestant ministers, who have accepted 
and entered upon the duties. 

"If you perceive no objection, I will thank you 
to give me the name or names of one or more 
suitable persons of the Catholic Church, to whom 
I may with propriety tender the same service." 

CAN'T GO TO HEAVEN 
On Thursday of a certain week, two ladies. 



Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 81 

from Tennessee, came before the President, ask- 
ing the release of their husbands, held as prisoners 
of war at Johnson's Island. They were put off 
until Friday, when they came again, and were 
again put off until Saturday. At each of the in- 
terviews one of the ladies urged that her hus- 
band was a religious man. On Saturday, when 
the President ordered the release of the prisoner, 
he said to this lady: 

"You say your husband is a religious man; tell 
him, when you meet him, that I say I am not 
much of a judge of religion, but that in my 
opinion the religion which sets men to rebel and 
fight against their government, because, as they 
think, that government does not sufficiently help 
some men to eat their bread in the sweat of other 
men's faces, is not the sort of religion upon which 
people can get to Heaven." 

TO MRS. GURNEY, WIFE OF PASTOR OF THE 
CHURCH HE ATTENDED 

"In the very responsible position in which I 
happen to be placed, being a humble instrument in 
the hands of our Heavenly Father as I am, and as 
we all are, to work out His great purposes, I have 
desired that all my works and acts may be accord- 
ing to His will, and that it might be so, I have 
sought His aid; but if, after endeavoring to do my 
best in the hght which He affords me, I find my 



82 Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 

efforts fail, I must believe that, for some purpose 
unknown to me, He wills it otherwise. If I had 
had my way, this war would never have been com- 
menced. If I had been allowed my way, this war 
would have been ended before this; but we find 
it still continues, and we must believe that He 
permits it for some wise purpose of His own, 
mysterious and unknown to us ; and though with 
our limited understandings we may not be able to 
comprehend it, yet we cannot but believe that He 
who made the world still governs it." 

TO MRS. E. P. GURNEY 

"I am much indebted to the good Christian 
people of the country for their constant prayers 
and consolations; and to no one of them more 
than to yourself. The purposes of the Almighty 
are perfect, and must prevail, though we erring 
mortals may fail to accurately perceive them in 
advance. We hoped for a happy termination of 
this terrible war long before this ; but God knows 
best, and has ruled otherwise. We shall yet ac- 
knowledge His wisdom, and our own error 
therein. Meanwhile we must work earnestly in 
the best lights He gives us, trusting that so work- 
ing still conduces to the great ends He ordains. 
Surely He intends some great good to follow this 
mighty convulsion, which no mortal could make, 
and no mortal could stay." 



Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 83 

READ THE BIBLE 

A year before his death, addressing his friend 
Joshua Speed, he said: 

"I am profitably engaged reading the Bible. 
Try to comprehend as much as possible of this 
book with your mind and accept the rest with 
faith, and you will live and die a better man." 

GOD WILL NOT DESERT ME 
Lincoln was greatly disturbed when the Secre- 
tary of the Treasury tendered his resignation. 
He named Senator Fessenden as his successor, 
but Fessenden declined the appointment. lAn- 
coln, deeply moved, said to Fessenden: 

"God has not deserted me as yet, and He will 
not desert me now." 

EMANCIPATING THE SLAVES 
A few days before issuing the Emancipation 
Proclamation he expressed himself to several of 
his cabinet members: 

"I have made a solemn vow that as soon as 
Gen. Lee shall have been driven out of Pennsyl- 
vania, I will crown the event by emancipating the 
slaves." 

SHOULD BE ON THE LORD'S SIDE 
To the remark of a clergyman that he hoped 
"the Lord was on our side": "I am not con- 
cerned about that," replied Lincoln, "for I know 



84 Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 

that the Lord is always on the side of the right. 
But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that 
I and tliis Nation should be on the Lord's side." 

"The purposes of the Almighty are perfect, 
and must prevail, though we erring mortals may 
fail to accurately perceive them in advance." 

"God must like common people, or he would 
not have made so many of them." 

SENDS MESSAGES VIA CHICAGO? 

Characteristic is the reply Lincoln once gave 
a delegation of Chicago ministers, who had come 
to demand that he proclaim the liberty of states. 
The speaker of the delegates closed with these 
words: "This is a message from the Lord that is 
coming to you!" 

"Ah," was Lincoln's sarcastic reply. "I did 
not know that the Lord sends me His messages 
by way of Chicago." 

HIS LAST WORDS TO HIS WIFE 

"There is no city in this world that I should 
like to see as much as Jerusalem." 

These were Lincoln's last words addressed to 
his wife. He had hardly spoken them when the 
bullet of the murderer struck him down. ( Emily 
Todd Helm in McClure's, September, 1898.) 




One of the Most Interesting of all T.incoln Portrait; 



Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 85 

What a remarkable coincidence. When Lin- 
coln said these words, he had in mind an earthly 
city, the Jerusalem of the Orient. 

This desire was not fulfilled, but instead, he 
was to see the more beautiful, the holy city — the 
heavenly Jerusalem. 



STATE PAPERS 



Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 89 

FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS 
"Why should there not be a patient confidence 
in the ultimate justice of the people? Is there 
any better or equal hope in the world? In our 
present differences is either party without faith 
of being in the right ? If the Almighty Ruler of 
Nations, with His eternal truth and justice, be 
on your side of the North, or on yours of the 
South, that truth and that justice will surely 
prevail by the judgment of this great tribunal of 
the American people, 

"If it were admitted that you who are dissatis- 
fied hold the right side in the dispute, there still 
is no single good reason for precipitate action. 
Intelligence, patriotism, Christianity and a firm 
reliance on Him who has never yet forsaken this 
favored land, are still competent to adjust in 
the best way all our present difficulty. 

"In your hands, my dissatisfied fellow-country- 
men, and not in mine, is the momentous issue of 
civil war. The government will not assail you. 
You can have no conflict without being yourselves 
the aggressors. You have no oath registered in 
Heaven to destroy the government, while I shall 
have the most solemn one to 'preserve, protect 
and defend it.' " 

EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION 

"And upon this act, sincerely believed to be an 
act of justice, warranted by the Constitution 



90 Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 

upon military necessity, I invoke the considerate 
judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of 
Almighty God." 

SECOND INAUGURAL ADDRESS 
"Neither party expected for the war the magni- 
tude or the duration which it has already attained. 
Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict 
might cease with, or even before, the conflict itself 
should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, 
and a result less fundamental and astounding. 
Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same 
God ; and each invokes His aid against the other. 
It may seem strange that any man should dare to 
ask a just God's assistance in wringing his 
bread from the sweat of other men's faces ; but let 
us judge not, that we be not judged. The pray- 
ers of both could not be answered — that of neither 
has been answered fully. 

"The Almighty has His own purposes. *Woe 
unto the world because of offenses! for it must 
needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man 
by whom the offense cometh,' If we shall sup- 
pose that American slavery is one of those of- 
fenses which, in the providence of God, must needs 
come, but which, having continued through His 
appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that 
He gives to both North and South this terrible 
war as the woe due to those by whom the offense 
came, shall we discern therein any departure from 




Lincoln and 1 1 is Calnnet 



Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 91 

those Divine attributes which the believers in a 
living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do 
we hope, — fervently do we pray — that this 
mighty scourge of war may speedily pass aAvay. 
Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the 
wealth piled by the bondman's two hundred and 
fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, until 
every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be 
paid by another drawn with the sword, as was 
said three thousand years ago, so still it must be 
said, *The judgments of the Lord are true and 
righteous altogether.' 

"With malice toward none; with charity for all; 
with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see 
the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are 
in ; to bind up the nation's wounds ; to care for him 
who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, 
and his orphan — to do all which may achieve and 
cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, 
and with all nations." 



GETTYSBURG ADDRESS, NOVEMBER 19, 1863 

"But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate — 
we cannot consecrate — we cannot hallow — this 
ground. The brave men, living and dead, who 
struggled here, have consecrated it far above our 
poor power to add or detract. The world ^vili ht- 
tle note nor long remember what we say here, but 
it can never forget what they did here. It is for 



92 Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 

us, the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the 
unfinished work which they who fought here have 
thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to 
be here dedicated to the great task remaining be- 
fore us — that from these honored dead we take 
increased devotion to that cause for which they 
gave the last full measure of devotion; that we 
here liighly resolve that these dead shall not have 
died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall 
have a new birth of freedom ; and that government 
of the people, by the people, for the people, shall 
not perish from the earth." 

ORDER FOR SABBATH OBSERVANCE, 
NOVEMBER 15, 1862 

"The President, commander-in-chief of the ar- 
my and navy, desires and enjoins the orderly ob- 
servance of the Sabbatli by the officers and men 
in the military and naval service. The impor- 
tance to man and beast of the prescribed weekly 
rest, the sacred rights of Christian soldiers and 
sailors, a becoming deference to the best senti- 
ment of a Christian people, and a due regard for 
the Divine will, demand that Sunday labor in the 
army and navy be reduced to the measure of 
strict necessity. The disciphne and character of 
the national forces should not suffer, nor the 
cause they defend be imperiled, by the profana- 
tion of the day or name of the Most High. 



Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 93 

*At this time of public distress' — adopting the 
words of Washington in 1776 — *men may find 
enough to do in the service of God and their coun- 
try without abandoning themselves to vice and 
immorality.' The first general order issued by 
the Father of his Country after the Declaration 
of Independence indicates the spirit in which our 
institutions were founded and should ever be 
defended. *The general hopes and trusts that 
every officer and man will endeavor to live and act 
as becomes a Christian soldier, defending the 
dearest rights and liberties of his country.' " 

IN MESSAGE TO CONGRESS, JULY i, 1861 
"Having thus chosen our course, without guile 
and with pure purpose, let us renew our trust in 
God, and go forward without fear and with 
manly hearts." 

IN A LETTER TO SECRETARY STANTON, 
FEBRUARY 11, 1864 

"I have never interfered nor thought of inter- 
fering as to who shall or shall not preach in any 
church ; nor have I knowingly or believingly tol- 
erated any one else to so interfere by my author- 
ity. If any one is so interfering by color of my 
authority, I would like to have it specifically 
made known to me. ... I will not have 
control of any church on any side." (Nicolay 
and Hay.) 



94 Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 

TO GENERAL CURTIS, JANUARY, 1864 
*'The United States Government must not un- 
dertake to run the churches. When an individual 
in a church or out of it becomes dangerous to the 
public interest, he must be checked, but the 
churches must take care of themselves. It will 
not do for the United States Government to ap- 
point agents for the churches." 



LINCOLN AND REV. C. CHENIQUY 



Was Ahraha7ii Lincoln an Infidel? 97 

In concluding we cannot deny ourselves the 
privilege of repeating the sublime words which the 
Rev. C. Cheniquy ascribes to Lincoln; words, the 
authenticity of which is doubted by some, al- 
though others are fully satisfied that they are 
genuine. While the words are here repeated 
without comment as to their reliability, it must 
be admitted that, when compared with what Lin- 
coln said to Bateman, Gillespie and Gov. Bram- 
lett, and when we place side by side with them 
the sublime words of Lincoln's second inaugural 
address and of other state papers, it does not ap- 
pear impossible that these words of Lincoln are 
really authentic. They are so eloquent, so sub- 
lime, that one almost feels as if they were inspired, 
as such words seldom come from the lips of mor- 
tals. 

Cheniquy believed that he had proof that Lin- 
coln's assassination had been planned by some 
certain faction. He went to Washington to warn 
Lincoln to be on his guard. Lincoln, who had 
made Cheniquy's acquaintance in a law suit, in 
which he represented him, gave an audience to the 
former priest. After Cheniquy had explained 
his errand Lincoln replied in part: 

"You are not the first to warn me against the 
dangers of assassination. My ambassadors in It- 
aly, France and England, as well as Professor 
Morse, have, many times, warned me against the 



98 Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 

plots of the murderers whom they have detected 
in those different countries. But I see no other 
safeguard against those murderers, but to be al- 
ways ready to die, as Christ advises it. As we 
must all die sooner or later, it makes very little 
difference to me whether I die from a dagger 
plunged through the heart or from an inflamma- 
tion of the lungs. Let me tell you that I have, 
lately, read a message in the Old Testament which 
has made a profound, and, I hope, a salutary im- 
pression on me. Here is that passage." 

The President took his Bible, opened it at the 
third chapter of Deuteronomy, and read from the^ 
22nd to the 28th verse: 

" '22. Ye shall not fear them; for the Lord 
your God shall fight for you. 

" '23. And I besought the Lord at that time, 
saying: 

" '24. O Lord God, thou hast begun to show 
thy servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand; 
for what God is there, in heaven or in earth, that 
can do according to thy words, and according 
to thy might ! 

" '25. . I pray thee, let me go over and see the 
good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly 
mountain, and Lebanon. 

" '26. But God was wroth with me for your 
sakes, and would not hear me : and the Lord said 
unto me, let it suffice thee : speak no more unto me 
of this matter: 




Lincoln in 1864 



Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 99 



(C << 



'27. Get thee up unto the top of Pisgah, and 
lift up thine eyes westward and northward, and 
southward and eastward, and behold it with thine 
eyes; for thou shalt not go over this Jordan.' " 

After the President had read these words with 
great solemnity, he added : 

"My dear Father Cheniquy, let me tell you 
that I have read these strange and beautiful 
words several times, these last five or six weeks. 
The more I read them, the more, it seems to me, 
that God has written them for me as well as for 
Moses. 

"Has He not taken me from my poor log cabin, 
by the hand, as He did of Moses in the reeds of the 
Nile, to put me at the head of the greatest and 
most blessed of modern nations just as He put 
that prophet at the head of the most blessed nation 
of ancient times? Has not God granted me a priv- 
ilege, which was not granted to any living man, 
when I broke the fetters of 4,000,000 of men, and 
made them free? Has not our God given me the 
most glorious victories over our enemies? Are 
not the armies of the Confederacy so reduced to a 
handful of men, when compared to what they 
were two years ago, that the day is fast approach- 
ing when they will have to surrender ? 

"Now, I see the end of this terrible conflict, 
with the same joy of Moses, when at the end of his 
trying forty years in the wilderness; and I pray 
my God to grant me to see the days of peace and 



100 Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 

untold prosperity, which will follow this cruel 
war, as Moses asked God to see the other side of 
Jordan, and enter the Promised Land. But, do 
you know, that I hear in my soul, as the voice of 
God, giving me the rebuke which was given to 
Moses? 

"Yes! every time that my soul goes to God to 
ask the favor of seeing the other side of Jordan, 
and eating the fruits of that peace, after which I 
am longing with such an unspeakable desire, do 
you know that there is a still but solemn voice 
which tells me that I will see those things only 
from a long distance, and that I will be among 
the dead when the nation, which God granted me 
to lead through those awful trials, will cross the 
Jordan, and dwell in that I^and of Promise, where 
peace, industry, happiness and liberty will make 
every one happy; and why so? Because He has 
already given me favors which He never gave, I 
dare say, to any man in these latter days. 

"Why did God Almighty refuse to Moses the 
favor of crossing the Jordan, and entering the 
Promised Land? It was on account of the na- 
tion's sins! That law of Divine retribution and 
justice, by which one must suffer for another, is 
surely a terrible mystery. But it is a fact which 
no man who has any intelligence and knowledge 
can deny. Moses, who knew that law, though he 
probably did not understand it better than we do, 
calmly says to his people: 'God was wroth with 
me for your sakes.' 



Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 101 

"But, though we do not understand that mys- 
terious and terrible law, we find it written in let- 
ters of tears and blood wherever we go. We do 
not read a single page of history without finding 
undeniable traces of its existence. 

* 'Where is the mother who has not shed tears 
and suffered real tortures, for her children's sake? 

"Who is the good king, the worthy emperor, 
the gifted chieftain, who have not suffered un- 
speakable mental agonies, or even death, for their 
people's sake? 

"Is not our Christian religion the highest ex- 
pression of the wisdom, mercy and love of God! 
But what is Christianity if not the very incarna- 
tion of that eternal law of Divine justice in our 
humanity? 

"When I look on Moses, alone, silently dying 
on the Mount Pisgah, I see that law, in one of 
its most sublime human manifestations, and I am 
filled with admiration and awe. 

"But when I consider that law of justice, and 
expiation in the death of the Just, the divine Son 
of Mary, on the mountain of Calvary, I remain 
mute in my adoration. The spectacle of the Cru- 
cified One which is before my eyes is more than 
sublime, it is divine ! Moses died for his people's 
sake, but Christ died for the whole world's sake! 
Both died to fulfill the same eternal law of the 
Divine justice, though in a different measure. 

"Now, would it not be the greatest of honors 



102 Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 

and privileges bestowed upon me, if God, in His 
infinite love, mercy and wisdom, would put me 
between His faithful servant, Moses, and His 
eternal Son, Jesus, that I might die as they did, 
for my nation's sake ! 

"My God alone knows what I have already suf- 
fered for my dear country's sake. But my fear 
is that the justice of God is not yet paid. When 
I look upon the rivers of tears and blood drawn 
by the lashes of the merciless masters from the 
veins of the very heart of those millions of de- 
fenseless slaves, these two hundred years ; when I 
remember the agonies, the cries, the unspeakable 
tortures of those unfortunate people to which I 
have, to some extent, connived with so many 
others a part of my life, I fear that we are still 
far from the complete expiation. For the judg- 
ments of God are true and righteous. 

"It seems to me that the Lord wants to-day, as 
He wanted in the days of Moses, another victim — 
a victim which He has Himself chosen, anointed 
and prepared for the sacrifice, by raising it above 
the rest of His people. I cannot conceal from you 
that my impression is that I am the victim. So 
many plots have already been made against my 
life, that it is a real miracle that they have all 
failed. But can we expect that God will make a 
perpetual miracle to save my life? I believe not. 

"But just as the Lord heard no murmur from 
the lips of Moses, when He told him that he had to 



Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 103 

die before crossing the Jordan, for the sins of his 
people, so I hope and pray that He will hear no 
murmur from me when I fall for my nation's 
sake. 

"The only two favors I ask of the Lord, are, 
first, that I may die for the sacred cause in which 
I am engaged, and when I am the standard- 
bearer of the rights and liberties of my country. 

"The second favor I ask from God, is that my 
dear son, Robert, when I am gone, will be one of 
those who lift up that flag of Liberty which will 
cover my tomb, and carry it with honor and fidel- 
ity to the end of his life, as his father did, sur- 
rounded by the millions who will be called with 
him to fight and die for the defense and honor of 
our country." 

"Never had I heard such subhme words," says 
Father Cheniquy. "Never had I seen a human 
face so solemn and so prophet-like as the face of 
the President, when uttering these things. Every 
sentence had come to me as a hymn from heaven, 
reverberated by the echoes of the mountains of 
Pisgah and Calvary. I was beside myself. 
Bathed in tears, I tried to say something, but I 
could not utter a word. 

"I knew the hour to leave had come. I asked 
f rorn the President permission to fall on my knees 
and pray with him that liis life might be spared; 
and he knelt with me. But I prayed more with 
my tears and sobs than with my words. 



104 Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 

"Then I pressed his hand on my lips and 
bathed it with my tears, and with a heart filled 
with an unspeakable desolation, I bade him 
Adieu! It was for the last time! 

"For the hour was fast approaching when he 
was to fall by the hand of an assassin, for his na- 
tion's sake." 

And with this we leave the reader to form his 
own opinion on the question: "Was Abraham 
Lincoln an infidel?" 




he Last Portrait of Al)raliani TJncoln. Taken April 0, 1865, 
tlie Sunday P.cforc His Assassination 



OPINIONS OF LINCOLN'S RELIGIOUS 
CHARACTER 



Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 107 

HON. I. N. ARNOLD 
"It is very strange that any reader of Lincoln's 
speeches and writings should have the hardihood 
to charge him with a want of religious feeling. 
No more reverent Christian than he ever sat in 
the Executive chair, not excepting Washington. 
From the time he left Spring- 
field to his death he not only himself continually 
prayed for Divine assistance, but constantly 
asked the prayers of his friends for himself and 

his country Doubtless, like 

many others, he passed through periods of doubt 
and perplexity When the un- 
believer shall convince the people that this man 
whose life was straightforward, clear and honest, 
was a sham and a hypocrite, then, but not before, 
may he make the world doubt his Christianity." 

FRANCIS BICKNELL CARPENTER 
"Doubtless Lincoln felt as deeply upon the 
great questions of the soul and eternity as any 
other thoughtful man; but the very tenderness 
and humility of his nature would not permit the 
exposure of his inmost convictions, except upon 
the rarest occasions, and to his most intimate 
friends. And yet, aside from emotional expres- 
sion, I believe no man had a more abiding sense 
of his dependence upon God, or faith in the Di- 
vine government, and in the power and ultimate 
triumph of Truth and Right in the world." 



108 Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 

J. G. HOLLAND 

"Lincoln was a religious man. This fact may 
be stated without any reservation — with only an 
explanation. He believed in God, and in His per- 
sonal supervision of the affairs of men. He be- 
lieved himself to be under His control and guid- 
ance. He believed in the power and ultimate tri- 
umph of the right, through his belief in God. This 
unwavering faith in a Divine Providence began at 
his mother's knee, and ran like a thread of gold 
through all the inner experiences of his life. His 
constant sense of human duty was one of the 
forms by which his faith manifested itself. His 
conscience took a broader grasp than the simple 
apprehension of right and wrong. He recognized 
an immediate relation between God and himself, 
in all the actions and passions of his life. He was 
not professedly a Christian — that is, he subscribed 
to no creed — joined no organization of Christian 
disciples. He spoke little then, perhaps less than 
he did afterward, and always sparingly, of his 
religious belief and experiences; but that he had 
a deep religious life, sometimes imbued with 
superstition, there is no doubt. We guess at a 
mountain of marble by the outcropping ledges 
that hide their whiteness among the ferns." 

Holland closes his remarks about Lincoln's 
character as follows: "Mr. Lincoln's character 
was one which will grow. It will become the basis 
of an ideal man. It was so pure, and so unselfish. 



Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 109 

and so rich in its materials, that fine imaginations 
will spring from it, to blossom and bear fruit 
through all the centuries. This element was 
found in Washington, whose human weaknesses 
seem to have faded entirely from memory, leaving 
him a demi-god ; and it will be found in Mr. Lin- 
coln in a still more remarkable degree. The black 
race have already crowned him. With the black 
man, and particularly the black freedman, Mr. 
Lincoln's name is the saintliest which he pro- 
nounces, and the noblest he can conceive. To the 
emancipated, he is more than man — a being 
scarcely second to the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. 
That old, white-headed negro who undertook to 
tell you what 'Massa Linkum' was to his dark- 
minded brethren, embodied the vague conceptions 
of his race in the words ; 'Massa Linkum, he ebery 
whar ; he know ebery ting ; he walk de earf like de 
Lord.' He was to these men the incarnation of 
power and goodness ; and his memory will live in 
the hearts of this unfortunate and oppressed race 
while it shall exist upon the earth." 

HE WAS A VERY HUMBLE MAN 

Another writer says : 

"Certainly, Mr. Lincoln's religion was very 
different from this. It was one which sympa- 
thized with all human sorrow; which lifted, so far 
as it had the power, the burden from the op- 



110 Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 

pressed ; which let the prisoner go free, and which 
called daily for supplies of strength and wiS 
from the divme fountains. He |rew more reT 
gious with every passing year of his oEl Me 
The tender p.ety that breathed in some of ht 
late state papers is unexampled in any of the 
utterances of his predecessors. In all the great 

Divine guidance and assistance was often ex- 
tremely touching. 'I have been driven many 
times to my knees,' he once remarked, 'brthe 
overwhelming conviction that I had nowher'e else 
to go. J\Iy own wisdom and that of all about 
me seemed insufficient for that day.' On another 
occasion, when told that he was daily remembered 
m the prayers of those who prayed! he saidlhat 
he had been a good deal helped 'bv the though? 
and then he added with much solemnity: 'I should 
be the most presumptuous blockhead upon this 
footstool. If I for one day thought that I could 
discharge the duties which have come upon me 
since I came into this place without the aid and 
enhgh enment of One who is wiser and stronger 
than all others.' He always remained shy in fhe 
exposure of his religious experiences, but those 
around him caught golden glimpses of a beautiful 
Christian character. With faihng strength and 
constant weariness, the even temper of the man 
sometimes gave way, while his frequent ex- 
perience of the faithlessness and cupidity of men 



Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? Ill 

made him at last distrustful of those who ap- 
proached him." 

Nicolay and Hay, private secretaries to Lin- 
coln, who certainly should have been able to form 
an unprejudiced judgment of Lincoln's charac- 
ter, have this to say: 

"Lincoln was a man of profound and intense 
religious feeling. He continually invited and 
appreciated at their highest value the prayers of 
good people. From that morning when standing 
amid the falling snowflakes on the railway car at 
Springfield he asked the prayers of his neighbors 
in those touching phrases whose echo rose that 
night in invocations from thousands of family 
altars, to the memorable hour when, on the steps 
of the national capitol, he humbled himself before 
liis Creator in the sublime words of the second in- 
augural, there is not an expression known to 
have come from his lips or his pen but proves that 
he held himself answerable in every act of his ca- 
reer to a more august tribunal than any on earth. 
The fact that he was not a communicant of any 
church and that he was singularly reserved in re- 
gard to his personal religious life gives only the 
greater force to these striking proofs of his pro- 
found reverence and faith." 

JOHN G. NICOLAY 
Outside of Lincoln's private family no one was 
more able to judge Lincoln's inner hfe than his 



112 Was Abraham Lincoln an Infidel? 

private secretary, John G. Nicolay. He has this 
to say on the subject: 

"I do not remember ever having discussed re- 
Hgion with Mr. Lincoln, nor do I know of any 
authorized statement of his views in existence. 
He sometimes talked freely, and never made any 
concealment of his belief or unbehef in any dogma 
or doctrine, but never provoked religious contro- 
versies. I speak more from his disposition and 
habits than from any positive declaration on his 
part. He frequently made remarks about ser- 
mons he had heard, books he had read, or doc- 
trines that had been advanced, and my opinion 
as to his religious belief is based upon such casual 
evidence. There is not the slightest doubt that 
he beheved in a Supreme Being of omnipotent 
power and omniscient watchfulness over the chil- 
dren of men, and that this Being could be reached 
by prayer. 

"Mr. Lincoln was a praying man. I know that 
to be a fact. And I have heard him request peo- 
ple to pray for him, which he would not have done 
had he not believed that prayer is answered. . 
I have heard him say that he prayed for 
this or that, and remember one occasion on which 
he remarked that if a certain thing did not occur 
he would lose his faith in prayer. ... At the 
same time he did not believe in some of the dog- 
mas of the orthodox churches. He believed in the 
Bible, however. . . . He often declared 



Was Ahraham Lincoln an Infidel? 113 

that the Sermon on the Mount contained the es- 
sence of all law and justice, and the Lord's Pray- 
er was the sublimest composition in human lan- 
guage." 



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